A wild horse advocacy group sued the Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday, saying the agency ignored a federal court ruling in July that halted a massive planned roundup of the animals in southern Wyoming.
Friends of Animals’ lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming, which also named Interior Secretary Doug Burgum as a defendant, claims BLM “is proceeding with action” to remove thousands of wild horses from a part of Wyoming with a checkerboard of federal and private land.
The legal complaint accuses BLM of ignoring the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in July that reversed a district judge’s decision last year that upheld a 2023 bureau plan to reduce wild horse populations in the region. The plan was devised to comply with an April 2013 legal settlement with ranchers who demanded the bureau remove stray animals encroaching on their private property.
BLM said in a statement that it could not comment on the lawsuit filed by Friends of Animals. But it did confirm that the bureau “plans to proceed with the permanent removal of wild horses in the Salt Wells Creek and Adobe Town Herd Areas,” and that it would begin this operation “on or about Oct. 13, 2025.”
